


The Little Things

by Treekianthia



Category: Bravely Default (Video Game) & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Hugs, Hugs are really important here, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-06-13
Packaged: 2019-05-21 21:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14923155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treekianthia/pseuds/Treekianthia
Summary: Ringabel thinks waking Edea up at 2am is a good idea. Edea, however, doesn’t feel the same way about it. (Fic Archive: 03/28/17)





	The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> The following fic was originally posted to outside sources on 03/28/17. It is being posted here for archival purposes and to help document my progress as a writer. More info on myself and my works can be found on my tumblr blog woodland-knight.

“Edea? Edea…”

It was pitch black when Edea opened her eyes. She was exhausted, and her limbs were sore from the previous day’s activities. Judging by how groggy she was, she had only been asleep a few hours, which was far less time than she would have liked. As her eyes tried to adjust to the light, she attempted to make sense of what was going on. Somebody had woken her up for some reason, and though she couldn’t be certain to as of why, the who was more than obvious.

“Ringabel, I was sleeping!” she hissed as she looked at a black mass that was lying next to her. It had been moving a second beforehand, but it had stopped as soon as she had spoken. A moment later, the mass moved closer, and Edea could just barely start to make out the features of her fiancé as it did so.

“I know you were asleep. That’s why I had to wake you,” Ringabel said as he inched his way over. “I wouldn’t be able to talk to you if you were still sleeping.”

Edea let out an annoyed huff. “I would have preferred if you had left me sleeping,” she complained while rubbing her now stinging eyes. Throwing his blanket over Edea, Ringabel made himself comfortable next to her.

“I know, I know, but I wanted to talk to you,” he told her as he reached for a strand of her hair before changing his mind. “I hope you’re not angry that I woke you.”

Edea blinked a few times as she tried to let her eyes adjust to the light. “What time even is it?” she asked before letting out a big yawn. “I feel like I haven’t even slept a wink.”

The bed shook slightly as Ringabel made a poor attempt at a shrug. “Two in the morning, maybe? I just got into bed a little bit ago, and I didn’t bother to check the time,” he explained. Muttering complaints about the time to herself, Edea rolled onto her stomach and crossed her arms over her pillow.

“You better have a good reason for waking me up then,” she grumbled as she rested her chin between her arms. She had closed her eyes again to keep them from stinging, but it was also causing her to doze back off. Ringabel, however, laid his head next to hers in order to wake her back up.

“Of course, Little Peahen. I wouldn’t wake you from your beauty sleep if it wasn’t important,” he mentioned as he draped his arm over her. Edea couldn’t tell if he was teasing or being serious, but she still didn’t appreciate the fact he had woken her up.

“It wasn’t beauty sleep, it was a warrior’s slumber,” she insisted with another grumble. “It ensures that I can still kick your butt when you decide to bother me in the middle of the night.”

Ringabel, seemingly unaffected by Edea’s tired threat, propped himself up with one arm and poked her cheek. “Or perhaps it was the eternal slumber of a fair maiden, only woken up by the sound of her true love’s voice?” he teased as he continued to poke. Annoyed, Edea swatted his hand away and turned her head towards him.

“What do you need?” she bluntly asked him. She had opened her eyes just enough to try and make his expression out, and he seemed to be…  _Frowning?_  She couldn’t be sure, as it was still too dark for her to make things out properly.

“You  _are_  angry at me, aren’t you?” Ringabel asked in response. Edea still couldn’t tell how he was feeling, but his voice didn’t sound very cheerful. Edea, however, was still too annoyed to point it out.

“You woke me up at 2 am,” she reminded him with the same blunt manner. “Now tell me what you need so I can go back to sleep.”

“I just wanted a hug, Edea,” Ringabel told her with a somewhat disappointed tone. “Is that too much to ask?”

Edea felt herself tense up.  _A hug!? He had woken her up because he wanted a stupid hug!? Seriously!? She should’ve kicked him out for waking her up for such a stupid thing! Ugh!_

“Go to sleep, Ringabel,” she demanded as she rolled away from him. She wasn’t as angry as she could be, but she was definitely irritated. If it weren’t for how tired she was, she would have given him a good tongue lashing. Ringabel, however, scooted closer and placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Just one hug? Pleeeease?” he asked in a way reminiscent of a whining child. Edea scrunched her face in annoyance and turned her attention back to what she was pretty sure was Ringabel’s face.

“I said, go to sleep, Ringabel,” she demanded a second time; this time a bit harsher than the last. Normally she’d have no complaints giving him a small hug, but the fact he had woken her just for that had made her less than willing. Disappointed, Ringabel sighed and pulled the covers back over his head.

“Goodnight, Edea…” he mumbled to her before rolling to the other side of the bed and falling silent. She had no clue if he was actually trying to fall asleep, but he was at least letting her get some shut eye. Relieved, Edea made herself comfortable and let her head sink back into the pillow…

Ten minutes passed, and then twenty… By the time an hour had passed, Edea was still awake. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, and enough moonlight was creeping in to make things more visible, though it wasn’t of much use to her. She was keeping her eyes squeezed shut to try and force herself to fall asleep, but she wasn’t having any luck. No matter how tired she was, she couldn’t help but feel restless as well. It was torture.

As Edea laid on her stomach and kept her eyes closed, she tried to think of ways to help her sleep. Kamiizumi had once told her the way to a perfect night’s sleep was clearing the mind, so she tried her best to change her way of thinking. She began to focus more on what was around her and less of what was in her head.  _The cold air on her cheeks… The warmth of the bed and blankets… The darkness of the room… The sound of crying?_

Edea opened her eyes and turned her attention to the lump under the blankets that was her fiancé. Sitting up and reaching over, she lightly placed her on top of him and watched as he straightened out under the sheets. A moment later, Ringabel peered out from under the blankets. Though Edea couldn’t see his tears, she could still tell from his actions that he had been crying.

“D-do you need something, Edea?” he asked while poorly attempting to hide the fact he was upset. Concerned about her fiancé, Edea reached over to the top of his head and gently brushed her fingers through his hair.

“I heard you crying. What’s going on?” she asked as she continued to pull at the loose strands of hair. In attempts to avoid the conversation, Ringabel pulled the covers back over his eyes, but left enough room for Edea to continue playing with his hair.

“N-nothing is going on! E-everything is okay…” he tried to convince her before sniffling. Knowing it was an obvious lie, Edea pulled the covers back so she could see the entirety of Ringabel’s face.

“I know you’re upset, Ringabel,” she said as she moved her hand to his cheeks to wipe his tears. “Please tell me what’s wrong…”

Ringabel sniffled again. “R-really, Edea! It’s nothing!” he continued to insist. Displeased with Ringabel’s lying, Edea began to frown.

“Please don’t hide this from me, Ringabel,” she requested as she stroked his cheek with her thumb. “You don’t have to tell me everything, but at least tell me something.”

Ringabel was hesitant. “It’s… It’s just the depression…” he quietly admitted a moment later. He was trying to cover his face with the blanket again, yet Edea didn’t stop him. Instead, she laid back down next to him to comfort him.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked as she moved a bit closer. She knew better than to force Ringabel to talk, but it was good to ask anyway. She could feel Ringabel tense up.

“No, not really…” he told her as he placed his forehead against hers. “It’s a bit hard to explain…”

Edea put her hand back on Ringabel’s cheek. “Well, is there anything I can do to help?” she continued to ask. Even if he’d prefer to stay silent on the matter, she still wanted to find a way to make him feel better. Ringabel placed his hand on top of hers.

“…can you give me a hug?” he requested with a saddened tone. Edea felt her heart sink as she realized why Ringabel had asked for the same thing earlier in the night.  _He had just wanted somebody to comfort him…_  She felt terrible for ignoring the previous request now, but she wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Wrapping her arms around Ringabel, she gave him a big hug.

“I’m sorry, Ringabel. If I had known you were upset earlier I wouldn’t have said no…” she apologized before snuggling against him. Ringabel returned the hug and held Edea close.

“It’s okay, Edea… I can’t get upset with you for not knowing,” he assured her. Edea, however, still felt terrible for what had happened.

“I should have known… I need to pay better attention next time,” she said as a lump formed in her throat. She felt somewhat responsible for Ringabel’s well-being, even if she knew she could never magically fix things, and felt she had to be more attentive. Ringabel, on the other hand, still tried to assure her things were okay.

“Really, Edea. It’s okay. You’re helping me now and that’s what matters,” he told her before giving her a quick peck on the forehead. “Besides, it’s not always obvious when Anazel is bothering me.”

Edea blinked. “Anazel…?” she asked in confusion. “Ringabel… Did you name your depression?”

Ringabel shifted awkwardly. “Ah, well… It was my psychiatrist’s idea,” he began to explain. “He said if I tried to humanize my depression, it might help me cope in more… Healthier ways… So I gave it a name. Now every time I have a bad thought, I just think ‘shut up, Anazel!’ to try and help myself feel better.”

Edea laughed a bit. “I see. It’s definitely different,” she pointed out before laughing again. Ringabel didn’t seem to appreciate her comment though, as he began to once again frown.

“Is it really that funny?” he asked with a somewhat hurt tone. Edea started to feel bad for laughing, especially since that hadn’t been the idea she was trying to convey.

“No, I don’t think it’s funny. I’m laughing because I think it’s cute!” she tried to explain herself. It didn’t seem to be working, however, as Ringabel was still frowning at her.

“…so you think my depression is cute,” he told her with the same hurt tone. Edea realized her message had been completely lost now, and it didn’t help she wasn’t doing a good job of explaining it in the first place.

“No, no, not at all! I think the fact you’ve given it a name is a great idea!” she said in attempts to correct her mistake. “What I think is cute is how willing you are to do what it takes to get through this. It’s an endearing character trait.”

Thankfully, Edea’s words seemed to be having an effect. “Do you really think so?” Ringabel asked her with a slightly more happy tone. Edea scooted up and kissed him on the nose.

“I know so,” she said with the utmost confidence. She could feel Ringabel hug her tighter, and he kissed her on the cheek before suddenly pouting a bit.

“Well, I still don’t think ‘cute’ was the best word to use,” he told in a grumpy, yet also playful way. She could tell he was just teasing now and let out another small laugh.

“Then how about inspiring?” she suggested to him. Ringabel raised an eyebrow slightly and tilted his head as much as he could with it being against their pillow.

“So now you’re saying you laughed because you found it inspiring,” he pointed out to her. Edea realized he was right and that it sounded odd, so she tried to explain herself once more.

“How about this… I laughed because I love you, and seeing you have the courage to deal with your pain head on inspires me to keep smiling,” she began. “You make me happy, even if you’re hurting, and you can make me laugh even when you’re sad. It’s the little things that you do that make me love you… Like the fact you bite your thumb when you’re in deep thought, the little noise you make when you realized you’ve forgotten something, your enthusiastic gushing about airships that only you understand, and now the fact you gave your depression a name to help you stay strong… I love all of that about you.”

To Edea’s relief, Ringabel’s expression softened. “I like that explanation a lot better,” he said with a loving smile. Edea  could hear a bit of satisfaction in his voice, but also happiness. With finally being able to see the smile she fell in love with, however, Edea probably felt more satisfaction than he did.

“Good, now go back to bed,” she demanded with a playful tone. Though she no longer cared that Ringabel had woken her up, she was still feeling exhausted. Ringabel began to pout and squeezed her a bit tighter.

“But Edeaaaaa!” he whined as he nuzzled his way into the crook of her neck. Edea was ready to give him a deadpan stare, but it would have been impossible for him to see in his current position.

“I need my beauty sleep, don’t I?” she asked in a somewhat mocking tone. It had always amazed Edea how fast the two of them could go from being heartfelt to teasing, but as long as nobody had their feelings hurt it didn’t bother her. Ringabel, meanwhile, was still whining.

“Yes, but- I mean you’re always beautiful, but that’s not the point! I would like to say something too!” he said as he moved his head back next to hers. Edea could tell he was trying to be sincere, so there was no point in trying to stop him.

“What do you want to say?” she continued to ask before yawning. Ringabel was still holding her close and looked her in the eyes before speaking.

“I love the fact your smile can brighten my day, and that you twitch your nose when you smell good food. The fact you love to listen to my poems and can even recite some by heart, and the freckles on your cheeks… These little things and so much more are why I love you,” he softly told her. Edea felt her cheeks turning red and buried her face in her pillow out of embarrassment. Even if they were engaged now, Ringabel still had his ways to charm her.

“G-go to sleep, Ringabel!” she loudly mumbled into the pillow. Ringabel let out a laugh and kissed her on the temple, all while keeping her close to him.

“Goodnight, Edea,” he whispered in her ear before relaxing next to her. Edea felt herself relax as well and turned herself back towards Ringabel.

In the comfort of Ringabel’s arms, Edea began to doze. He was warm and comfortable, and it would definitely make falling asleep easier. Following Kamiizumi’s advice once again, Edea tried to clear her mind. She focused on her breathing, Ringabel’s heartbeat, how nice his arms felt… She felt herself drifting off within moments of closing her eyes… Until Ringabel poked at her cheek again.

“Hey, Edea?” he asked in attempts to get her attention. Edea kept her eyes shut and didn’t bother getting angry. She was too tired for it.

“Mmm…?” she mumbled just loudly enough for Ringabel to hear her. Ringabel placed his forehead against hers once more and gently whispered to her.

“You give the best hugs…”

**Author's Note:**

> Whenever I get ill or don't feel good in general, I always find myself writing about these two. This was one of those fics that I wrote while sick, and I remember it helped me at least distract myself for a little bit. Though this is kind of a standalone fic in itself, it does have a connection my Bravely Babies AU if you know where to look.


End file.
